35 to 41
by knowhere
Summary: Literati. Every couple of Saturdays they go out and check off another bookstore on the list. AU


**35 To 41: Check**

Author: Knowhere

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the ideas. I do not own the businesses mentioned in the story. They are real establishments and do not belong to me. They have been used without permission for reference in this story.

AN: Even though I don't watch GG anymore, here in the fan fiction world is where I can still enjoy Rory and Jess. So, enjoy with me. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned Lux et Veritas, I just had this idea and it came out in the middle of my writer's block. But, I will continue (and finish) Lux, so keep an eye out for it. Thanks, and Enjoy!

Summary: Every couple of Saturdays they go out and check off another bookstore off their list. Future AU. Stand-alone. Literati.

She was showered, dressed, and ready to go. The only thing left was to feed the growing hunger that gnawed at her. Ignoring it for the moment, she pulled her wet hair back into a high playful ponytail. The weekends were for relaxing and for giving her daily routine of hair and makeup a rest since she wasn't going into the office. Today was for her. Well, today was for the both of them. She turned back to the closet, choosing a flimsy dark blue cardigan that brought out the color in her eyes and the silent compliments from his approving glance. She loved that familiar warmth that would sweep through her body, as he never failed to look her up and down with appreciation every time she wore that sweater. Shrugging it over her grey tee shirt, she left the buttons undone, as she knew it would steadily grow warmer throughout the day.

Turning around, her eyes landed on him. Sprawled on his stomach he had one arm hanging off the bed and the other flung over on her side of the bed. He hadn't moved since she left early to get ready and she smiled thinking how she was under that arm last night. His hair was a horrible mess that could only be tamed with a hot shower and a good dollop of gel. The dark sheets were twisted around his waist and the waistband of his boxers just peeked out from underneath the covers. She smiled as she thought about how messy he was when he slept. It always took her a while to make the bed after he vacated it just because everything always gets mixed up on the wrong side. But she never complained. She actually adored that about him. She was a gentle sleeper that never moved much, but she found her polar opposite in him.

Going over to the bed, she plopped down at the edge thinking the movement would wake him up. Nope. No reaction even as she ran her hand through the mess of tangles in his hair. Letting her hand linger at his neck, she leaned down and brushed a soft kiss on the apex of his shoulder blades. She loved the lean strength of them. Powerful but muted. His strength wasn't obvious but it was there, hidden from the unobservant viewer, still present under her soft caress.

"Jess?" She called to him in a childish singsong voice.

No response.

"Jess?" She gets a bit louder hoping for a reaction.

Without any premise, he reached out from under the sheets and pulled her down to lie face to face with him. She shrieked in delight.

"Yeah?"

"You're not out of bed yet. The alarm should have gone off fifteen minutes ago." She whispered.

He nodded his head without much attention. "Huh."

"Come on; get up." She nudged him with her nose on his.

"Yeah." He lazily opened his eyes and found her smiling brightly back at him. "You are way too happy for being up this early on a Saturday morning." He faked a look of disgust.

"But it's a beautiful morning." Her voice was chipper and indescribably happy.

"I think we need to see other people." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I can't be with someone who's this happy." He raised an eyebrow. "Where's the melancholy Rory from last night?"

She had been stressed from all her deadlines from work and came home and pouted until he relented and went out and picked up the Indian food that she begged to have. Her mood had been sour and eventually rubbed off onto him. He happily adopted and made it his own when he sat down and hit a roadblock as he tried to write a new chapter of his novel. They had both went to bed with a small cloud over their heads and it was a wonder they hadn't fought over some little insignificant thing.

"She was chased away by the rising sun." She giggled at her imagination. Leaning forward to kiss him, she tried her best to convince him out of the warm bundle of blankets.

Humming slightly out of their kiss, he tried to pull her down fully to snuggle with him. "Maybe the rain can chase her back into you."

"Horrible boy. You know you love me happy. Besides, it's going to be a lovely spring day. Not a chance of rain in sight." She shook her head at him like a child. "Who wants their girlfriend to be unhappy?"

"I didn't say unhappy. I said, melancholy." He smirked. "Are you going to be like this six months from now?"

She could barely contain her smile. "You mean when you're finally stuck with me?"

"Yeah." Her happiness began to creep its way to him. He reached out and placed a disobedient lock of her hair back into place. "Am I going to be stuck with a happy wife?"

Her gentle smile turned to full out beaming. "Forever."

He grabbed her and kissed her fully and passionately. He liked that word. He was learning to apply it to his life and to them. Forever. "I suppose there are worse things in life."

Detangling her limbs from his she gave him a mock stern look. "Yes, like having a hungry Gilmore who's dressed and ready to go while her fiancé hasn't even gotten out of bed yet."

"Alright." Throwing back the covers, he quickly gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Give me ten minutes."

Flopping back on the bed with her arms spread, she sighed dramatically. "I might starve in five."

With his back to her he rolled his eyes at the normal exaggeration. "There's a box of strawberry pop-tarts in the pantry."

She jumped up with glee. "You went shopping?"

He turned around. "Hey, I don't appreciate that tone of yours." He raised a single eyebrow. "If I don't go shopping, who will?" His light tone was annoying to her ears as he mocked her lack of domestic skills.

"I can shop with the best of them." She replied with her chin high in the air.

"Oh, I know you can." He walked back over to her in a couple of quick strides. "But I meant grocery shopping. Not a midnight candy run or a semi-annual shoe sale at the mall."

Her jaw dropped in astonishment. "There's a difference?"

He kissed her to put an end to the growing insanity of their conversation. Turning back to head to the bathroom he took the moment to check out his girlfriend. Taking in the length of her body, he smiled in appreciation knowing that she chose the outfit especially for him on their Saturday outing.

She didn't need to turn around to know that he was staring at her. "Like what you see Mariano?"

Chuckling at being caught red handed, he kept walking to get ready. "You know it, Gilmore."

---

Each had a pop tart in hand with a napkin to share as he locked the door to their apartment. As they stepped into the elevator, he leaned back against one of the walls and stuck his pop tart in his mouth to free up his hands. He reached for her body and brought her flush against his own. She reached up to pull the breakfast item out of his mouth. He still kept his arms around her.

"Hey Pretty Girl."

"Hey Mushy Boy." Her tone was completely off sync with his tender voice. She was mocking in delight.

"You just ruined the moment. I was trying to be romantic."

"The Jess Mariano I knew eight years ago would have rather chewed off his own arm than be caught using a line like that." She cocked her head to the side and listened to the happy chime of the elevator signaling that the landed on another floor.

She expected a patented eye roll or smirk but was greeted with seriousness.

"No arm chewing anymore." His voice regained its gentle tone.

"Are we being serious now?" Her heart fluttered at the possibility of his statement. "No arm chewing? No running away?" She sounded hopeful and innocent.

He leaned in to whisper. "Nope."

She resisted the urge to bite down on her lip. "For now?" She wanted him to say it. She needed to hear the reassurance from him.

He bent down and his lips brushed the nape of her neck. He silently thanked her decision to wear her hair up today. "Forever." He pulled back and took a bite out of one of the pop-tarts that she held in her hands.

"Forever's a long time."

"It is? Huh. You learn something new everyday." His voice was back to normal. He smirked at her and reached down to claim his breakfast back from her hand. Pulling back from her body he reached down for her hand as the elevator doors opened to let in another passenger.

She stood stunned and dazed. She knew he was different from before but this was a first for him. It was a first for them. Leave it to him to make such a declaration in an elevator and not in the privacy of their home. She had assumed that he wasn't planning on leaving her ever again when he had proposed to her, but the specific words never came out of his mouth. It was a touchy subject was it was great to finally able to hear the words and not just to take the issue for granted.

He glanced over to her. She looked like she was in a daydream. Her eyes were glassy and it appeared as it she was looking beyond the closed doors and into their futures.

Snapping out of her reverie she saw him wink at her. And she blushed in excitement.

---

He nudged her with his shoulder to get her attention as they stepped out into the bustling city. "You have the list?"

She nodded enthusiastically and popped the last bit of her breakfast into her mouth. She reached into her purse and pulled out a pristine sheet of white paper.

He looked over her shoulder and shook his head. "You typed it out?"

"Of course." Her mouth was still full.

He chided her softly. "You're ruining the messy spontaneous fun of it."

"Well, we used to do this spontaneously. But now we plan ahead of time. So I figured since we were more organized on when we do it, I can make an official list." Her nose wrinkled as she explained it to him. "See?" She pointed. "It's so much more efficient. Here, we left off with number 34 and today we start with 35. Before, we could barely read the names. And now," She grinned proudly, "we have it all typed out with a box next to it to check it off once we're done."

"Hey Type A, do we have a bit of OCD as well?"

"You're just jealous you didn't think of it first."

"I liked my hurried lists that I used to copy down out of the phone book just before we would leave the house." He sighed and tried to look sad. "You probably Googled them all before we left. Gone are the days when we would just pick one randomly out of the Yellow Pages."

"Well, I like it this way." She smiled sweetly. "Please can we try it this way?"

He felt like he could get a cavity just looking at her smile. "I suppose so."

"Yay!" She bounded happily into his arms and kissed him briefly on the lips.

"I don't have to do much to make you happy, do I?"

She shook her head with joy. "Nope."

Looking around he pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and slipped them on. "Alright, what's number 35?"

"The Last Word. 118th and Amsterdam."

"Okay, lead the way."

"Um." She paused for a second, not knowing which way to turn. Refusing to look unknowledgeable about the city that she's lived in for several years now, she took a shot in the dark and turned to her left. A couple of steps later she realized that she was walking alone. She turned back to see him grinning at her. "Well, are you coming or not?"

His smile grew. "Yeah, but you might wanna go this way." He cocked his head to the right and took a couple of steps backwards in the general direction of where he pointed.

"Oh." Embarrassed, she quickly walked by him.

"How many years have you lived in the Big Apple now?" His voice was laced with sarcasm as he referred to the city as the Big Apple. He jogged to keep up with her quickening strides.

"Don't make fun of me." She slowed down for him to see her pout. Her eyes widened and took on a sad appearance. She even stuck out her bottom lip for effect.

"Aw, no." He scrunched up his face in mild annoyance. "That should be illegal. Cruel and unusual punishment."

Smiling brightly again, she sidled up to him and grabbed his arm to pull it down to the length of her body where she laced their fingers together. "It's not unusual. It occurs almost daily."

Glancing back at her, he nodded. "Oh, I'm well aware of the ways you use that face."

"Besides, why would I need to know how to get around when I've got my own personal tour guide all to myself?" She reached up and gave him a quick peck.

He didn't slow down a bit as he returned her affection. "I can't be with you all the time."

"Well, I know my way to work, to coffee and takeout, and back home again, so I'm fine."

He shook his head at her ridiculous reasoning, but let the subject drop. So many of their conversations ended up being nonsense. He loved it. Almost as much as he loved her neurotic lists.

She interrupted his thoughts. "So I'm really excited that we're doing this today."

"Yeah?" He quipped. "Why's that?"

"Well, it's a tradition of ours. And we've been so busy these last two month, what with you going out of town and my deadlines. We've barely had time to spend with each other."

He felt guilty. He had been out promoting his book the last month and even missed their anniversary. One of them. He also loved the way she had an anniversary for practically every event that happened in their relationship. The first time they kissed, the first time they kissed and were together, the first time he stole one of her books and vandalized it, the first time they watched The Breakfast Club, the first time they saw each other again after years being apart, the first time they said 'I love you' to each other, and the first time they slept together. The last one was his favorite. He always insisted on reenacting that anniversary. She never complained.

But on his recent book tour, he had missed their anniversary of their second first date. It wasn't the anniversary of their first date that they had when they were teenagers, but it was their second first date as Rory put it. It was towards the end of her fourth year at Yale and they had started talking again after she was single again, and he had brought her out for dinner and then to visit his book at Barnes and Noble. It was a big day for him and she had been so proud to see his name settled neatly in the fiction section. She thought that he belonged there; in the presence of great literature. They had sat in one of the armchairs together. Squished up together, they had just enjoyed each other's company while they read chapter after chapter of his book. They stayed in the store until closing where she insisted on buying that particular copy. Though he had thought it was a ridiculous idea, she wanted to contribute to his book sales and that copy of his first book still had a special place on their bookshelf.

"I know. I'm sorry about that." He didn't like being reminded of leaving her. He had done that enough in their past, and hated to remember the pain he had once caused her.

"I'm not upset." She knew she had unintentionally hit a nerve. "I just miss you when you're not here." She leaned in and placed her head on his shoulder as they continued to walk through the city. "I like having you around."

Taking his hand out of her grip, he wrapped it around her shoulders. "That's good to know."

Trying to lighten up the conversation, she pulled back and looked at his face. "Pig, you just like hearing that I get lonely without you around."

He didn't even dignify her comment with a response. He just smiled wolfishly at her and shrugged.

---

She came out with three paperbacks while he exited with two hard covers. She stopped on the sidewalk to pull the lists out from her pocket. She unfolded it and took out her pen.

"Let's see. The Last Word. Number 35. Check." She spoke aloud as she made her notations. "They have first editions and out of print books. Inexpensive and a good section on literature." She turned to him. "What would you rate it? Three out of five?"

"We're rating them now?"

"Yeah, why not?"

He sighed. "Must we?"

"Yes, please." She started to make a face.

"Three and a half."

Jotting it down she mimicked his voice. "Three and a half. Now who's being specific?"

Shaking his head he just watched her check off number 35. "Do you want to move onto number 36?"

Smiling again, she got excited. "Yeah. Gryphon Bookshop. Broadway between 80th and 81st."

"Okay." He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers.

As they walked along the busy streets of Manhattan, she settled into her own silent thoughts. She thought about the first time they went out and did this. He had just scribbled down some names and address out of the yellow pages and ushered her out the door. It was all apart of his big date plans for their second fifth date and he was as nervous as hell. She never enjoyed watching him stumble over his words as much as she did that day. It was a warm afternoon and she wore a simple tank top and a light airy skirt that flowed with the passing breeze. She had enjoyed it when she felt his eyes on her every time he thought she wasn't looking. But the truth was that she was looking. She paid attention to his stares and how he would trail off the ends of his sentences and not know where to pick up again. Back when they were kids he was always so in control of his actions, never revealing too much for anyone to see, and not even to her. She had hated that side of him; the very neurotic side of him that was afraid of letting someone close. But when they started dating again after several years apart, he had changed. He told her that, but on that fifth date their second time around, she finally felt it. His eyes weren't hardened with pain, and he joked with her without too much sarcasm. He was playful and it thrilled her to see that side of him.

That afternoon he brought her to their first bookstore on the list. It was Gotham Book Mart and it took her breath away. It was over a hundred years old and he told her that even Arthur Miller has been quoted praising the bookstore. They had wandered around for hours both separately and finally coming together each with an armful of books. She remembered laughing at how they had many of the same titles in their piles and he really made her day when he bought every book she had picked out. They never did make it past the first bookstore on the list that day because she had bounded out of the store happy and giddy and kissed him right on the street. For their first kiss in years, he had dropped the bag of books in surprise as he felt her lips on his. Catching a cab in front of the shop, he took her back to his place and the rest is history.

She snapped back out of her thoughts and looked over at him fiddling with something in his hands. "Hey Jess?"

"Yeah?" He turned his attention from his cell phone and glanced at her.

"Remember the first time we did this?"

He slipped his cell into his back pocket to give her his full attention. "You mean that date?"

"Yeah." She leaned closer to him as they walked along. "That was a good day."

He came closer still to whisper in her ear. "It was a good night."

She giggled and bit her lip but then turned her head to watch the coming traffic as they crossed the street to Gryphon Bookshop.

---

Collapsing onto their couch, she let out a groan. "I'm so tired."

"Hey, I said we should go home after number 39. But someone insisted on finishing up to 41."

She didn't even lift up her head from the couch. "I wasn't thinking. It was a book high. It was the smell of old editions mixed in with the pristine pages of new copies. I was drunk I say, drunk."

"I suppose it's better than the last time you got drunk." He shouted from the inside of the fridge as he rummaged for something to eat.

"Hey."

"I remember telling you to lay off the drinks after your third, but no." He walked over to the couch with two boxes of apple juice and a turkey sandwich cut into two halves.

"I was excited. We were celebrating."

"It was like an AA meeting gone bad." He fell onto the couch right next to her. "You started making out with me in front of your family."

She playfully hit him on the chest. "Like you mind."

He leaned over to give her a quick kiss. "Yeah, I loved it. Though it would have been better without Emily giving me a death stare as you tried to shove your tongue down my throat." He laughed a thick throaty chuckle.

She grabbed one of the halves of the sandwich and bit down. "Yeah, I kinda wish I hadn't grabbed your butt in front of Grandma."

"I actually liked the groping." He smirked.

Rolling her eyes she stuck the straw into her juice. "Alright, alright."

They ate in silence and he listened to the distance clamoring of their loud next door neighbor. He could hear the sounds of The Price is Right playing downstairs from the elderly couple that lived below them. He thought about buying a new bookshelf for their new acquisitions that they made today. They already had four large shelves but they had ran out of room months ago. They had spent that day a couple months ago rearranging the books and argued for hours about which books deserved to go on the shelves. He had called her selfish because she wanted all of hers to go on the bookshelves while she left half his collection in piles on the floor. Her reasoning was that she always took better care of hers and they should continue having a nice shelf life whereas his always lived on the floor and so they wouldn't be made any worse continuing their lives all piled up on their hardwood floor. She had yelled at him when he said she was being unreasonable for making his books all bent out of shape as she piled them up. He had gotten so frustrated that he left the apartment without another word to her. When he had came home she was nowhere to be found. He had felt bad and wandered into the kitchen to make her dinner to apologize but when he went to open the freezer he found all of his Hemingways shoved in there. When she came home later that night she apologized to him and said that she wanted to share the space with him. He had thanked her and went to take a quick shower while she reheated the dinner he made for her. When he came out, she was busy laying all the abandoned books gently on the bed, organizing both their collections. Her eyes lit up when he asked her what she was doing and she hurriedly explained that they shouldn't separate their collections by who owned them. She wanted to put them all together and organize them by genre and then broken down by author. That night they had to sleep on the couch with her laying on top of him because they didn't want to put the books back onto the floor.

"Dodger?"

He turned and smirked at the nickname. "Yes?"

She snuggled in close and laid her head on his chest. "Can we buy some more bookshelves?"

He laughed at how she thought of the same thing and wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, we can go shopping tomorrow."

"Yay."

He grabbed their trash and went back into the kitchen to clean up their mess.

She sighed from the couch and yawned. "I'm tired."

"Come on, let's go to bed." He stretched out his hand to her.

Taking his hand in hers, she dragged her feet in exaggeration. "I won't make it. Ugh."

He led her by the hand and tried to ignore her protests.

"Jess?"

He shook his head at hearing her stretch out his name like a child. Sighing he crouched down. "Hurry up."

She giggled and her eyes lit up. "Ha ha, Sucker." She jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his chest while he held her legs.

"I knew you were faking." He walked the couple of steps into their bedroom. "I knew it was all a ploy just to jump me."

She tried to kick him with her dangling legs. "Stop flattering yourself."

"You know you want me." He reached their bed and dumped her on the mattress.

Refusing to let go she locked her legs around his waist and brought him down with her. Settling down on the bed, she turned from her position underneath him. "Hey you."

He shifted his body until he felt her fit perfectly and leaned his weight on his forearms. "Hey you, back."

"Thanks for taking me out today."

He leaned down to kiss her softly. She moaned as he traced a finger down her jaw line and she parted her lips for him. As she felt his tongue swipe the front of her teeth, she shifted her hips and nudged him to place more of his weight on her. She reached down and found the buckle to his belt and the clinking on her trying to undo it brought him out of the kiss.

"Hm, you're welcome." He kissed her chastely. "You say that every time."

She moved her hips once again. "I mean it every time."

He chuckled but couldn't keep from grunting at the same time. "Minx."

She giggled, high and airy. Just to tease him, she did it once again while lightly kissing the side of his neck.

He growled low in his throat and pulled back. "I like bookstore hunting."

"You like how we always end up in bed at the end of the day."

"Yeah, well that too." He chuckled. "It's a tradition, you said it yourself."

She went to undo the buttons of his shirt. "Well, I guess if it's tradition."

He kissed her bare shoulder and he threw her tee shirt over his shoulder. "Yup. Was this on your list for today?"

She nodded at him and kissed his forehead. "Check."

**AN: **Make me happy: tell me your favorite part (and I'd also love to hear why). Thanks!


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